Yesterday I finished a large scale commission for a client. The piece was 11 months in the making. There were times that I hated the piece, times that I loved it, times that I thought that I was onto something new and other times when I knew that it had most certainly been done before. Through it all there was part of me that thought that I should just spit it out and get the paycheck. I did, however, manage to dispel this line of thought rather quickly each time it would come up.
The piece is called Three Valves, Two Conveyors, and the Hope of Tomorrow. Within its multitude of panels there are four systems interacting. There is the system of pipes, conveyors, drops and system of layered construction. The pipes, conveyors and construction do not aid each other. They are separate systems existing in the same dimension. They do not really harm one another, but they do nothing to help the others existence. Sometimes one system does, impede the progress of another by overlapping or being painted a particularly commanding color. I think that perhaps it does not take too much effort to see where I am taking this metaphor. The drops are the hope of tomorrow. Colors coexist, rain, and permeate a new landscape. Where there is new, there is always hope.
Here are a couple images of the construction, the install and the finished piece.
Now it is on to the next several projects, and I should probably get my plans together for tomorrow’s two classes as well. The best never rest. Let’s hope that that is true, for I can tell you that I do not get much rest.
Peace
-Mike